EDITORIAL
'Poison tree, poison fruit". That was the reason used by the ruling Pheu Thai Party and its supporters, including the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), to justify their attempt to have the current constitution, deemed as a legacy of the 2006 coup makers, completely rewritten or to have just some of the sections amended depending on the mood of the public toward either of the two options.
While the public mood has yet to be gauged in a planned referendum and various public forums, the government has played safe and is treading the treacherous path cautiously and slowly _ to the chagrin of some hothead party members and red-shirt leaders.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra recently made clear that the charter rewrite or change process was not a top priority of her government and the process could drag on until next year. That is indeed a wise move because the issue is politically explosive and could destabilise her administration. So why stoke the fire?
Judging from the constitutional amendments study by a Pheu Thai Party-appointed parliamentary panel and Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung's proposal for changes in nine areas, it has become apparent that the public in general will gain very little from this endeavour while the politicians are the net beneficiaries.
For instance, the proposals adopted by Pheu Thai's House panel led by Sophon Petsawang to dissolve the Constitution Court, the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders and to clip the wings of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) and the Election Commission on the grounds that these charter-mandated independent organisations are too powerful.
In particular, the allegation that the NACC has too much power is laughable. The House panel wants to axe the graftbuster's power to take corruption cases it has investigated directly to court, bypassing the public prosecution in case their legal cases are challenged by the prosecution. Removing this power will turn the NACC into a toothless tiger which will be entirely dependent on the public prosecution to perform its duty effectively.
Given the severity of the graft problem in government bureaucracy these days and the lack of success in stemming the problem, one wonders whether this proposal will help fight against the problem? Or will it just give a morale booster to the corrupt politicians and their bureaucratic minions.
The current charter has been blamed by Pheu Thai and the UDD for all the political ills and colour-coded political conflict which have beset the country over the years. These allegations appear overstated and biased without taking into account the conduct of many politicians who are the real culprits for most if not all of the things that have gone terribly wrong in Thailand.
There are far more pressing and people-oriented issues than charter amendment that the government should focus on and address.
For instance, the so-called "mouth and stomach" issue in the aftermath of the 300-baht minimum wage enforcement which is though to have hit small- and medium-sized enterprises hard. Then there is the increased public debt problem and, lately, the territorial dispute with Cambodia over the ancient Preah Vihear temple. A ruling by the International Court of Justice is expected next year but nationalistic sentiment among the yellow-shirt movement is already heating up to reject the court's ruling.
It is for the government's own sake that it should keep the charter rewrite attempt on the backburner and refocus on more pressing and urgent issues.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/01/10/keep-charter-on-backburner/
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